Pope Francis issued his first excommunication since become Pope in March (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)

An Australian priest who supports the ordination of women has been excommunicated by Pope Francis.

In the first such excommunication since the new pontiff took office Fr Greg Reynolds was dismissed in a letter from the Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart, which stated that “the decision by Pope Francis to dismiss Fr Reynolds from the clerical state and to declare his automatic excommunication has been made because of his public teaching on the ordination of women contrary to the teaching of the Church and his public celebration of the Eucharist when he did not hold faculties to act publicly as a priest.”

Archbishop Hart also told other priests in the archdiocese by letter that Fr Reynolds’s excommunication was “because of his publicteaching on the ordination of women”, which are grounds for automatic excommunication.

Fr Reynolds is also a supporter of same-sex marriage and has attended rallies in favour of changing the definition of marriage. He has even reportedly presided at same-sex ceremonies.

He told National Catholic Reporter: “I am very surprised that this order has come under his watch; it seems so inconsistent with everything else he has said and done.”

In August 2011 Fr Reynolds resigned his position as a priest at two rural parishes and, after Archbishop Hart removed his priestly faculties, he founded Inclusive Catholics, a pro-female ordination and gay marriage group.

Australian media also reported that in August 2012 he was present at a Mass where a dog had received Communion, which Fr Reynolds said he was not aware of until after the incident.

That month Archbishop Hart wrote to him warning that if he continuedto act publicly as a priest he would “be forced to take further canonical action for the good of the Church”.

Suggestions that the pope himself will take a turn.

Vatican City:

Further to my blog of Friday 6th December, I note that Pope Francis is still determined to get Vatican officials out from behind their desks. As I wrote then, he has told his papal almoner, “You can sell your desk”. Thus this official, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, now goes out to meet in person some of those who have written to the Pope asking for help.

As the representative of the Holy Father, where he can help with small sums, interventions or other acts of kindness, he does so. The subliminal idea is that charity has a human face; it is not just signing a cheque from behind a certain piece of office furniture.

Now Robert Moynihan reports in his Letter 102 of Sunday 15 December from the Vatican, that Pope Francis has personally directed his closest collaborators, the cardinals and archbishops of the Roman Curia, to take turns to hear daily confession in the church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, which is situated outside the Vatican. It is suggested that the Holy Father will also take his turn in the confessional at 3 pm during the coming weeks.

Significantly the church of Santo Spirito is dedicated to the Divine Mercy devotion revealed to St Faustina, a Polish nun, and promoted by the late John Paul II, who died on the Feast of Divine Mercy. It seems that Archbishop Krajewski already hears confessions at this church daily at 3 pm.

Now he is to be joined by other members of the Curia. When asked why the Pope has asked for this initiative, the parish priest of Santo Spirito, Fr Jozef Bart, replied, “He wishes to emphasise the importance of confession, and of God’s great goodness in forgiving human sin.”

Published on Dec 4, 2013http://www.romereports.com
During his weekly general audience, Pope Francis asked thousands of people out in St. Peter’s Square to pray for five nuns who recently were kidnapped in Syria.

POPE FRANCIS

“Now I would like to invite all of you to pray for the nuns of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Tecla in Ma’lula, in Syria. Two days ago, they were kidnapped by armed men. Let us pray for these sisters, and for all those who have been kidnapped in this on-going conflict.”

During his catechesis, the Pope talked about the Resurrection. He explained that even though it’s hard to understand, the Resurrection explains people’s yearning for eternal life. It’s a seed, said the Pope, that God instilled in humanity.

POPE FRANCIS

“This is not a lie, ok? This is truth. We believe that Jesus Resurrected. Jesus is among us and alive right now. But, do you really believe that He is alive? Oh, you don’t? Yes or no? So, if Jesus is alive, do you think He would just let us die without resurrecting us? No! He waits for us because He has risen. The power in His Resurrection will raise us too.”

With thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope also said that the resurrection of each and every person is closely tied to that of Jesus.

POPE FRANCIS

“This fate is the source and the reason for our hope. A hope we sow and protect. This hope, if we protect it, if we protect it, it becomes a light that illuminates our personal story and that of our community.”

But resurrection is not limited to the after life. The Pope said that through Sacraments, like Baptism and the Eucharist, the seeds of resurrection bear fruit in every day life.

Despite the cold weather, the Pope held his general audience outdoors, in St. Peter’s Square to accommodate a crowd of more than 30,000 pilgrims. As usual, he blessed several children.

Pope Francis led a prayer vigil for peace in Syria in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 7, 2013. Credit: Lauren Cater/CNA.

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec 2, 2013 / 03:55 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Argentina’s House of Representatives has passed a resolution to nominate Pope Francis for the Nobel Peace Prize for his call to end the violence in Syria.

The resolution was passed by an overwhelming majority and now goes to the Senate for ratification.

Representative Oscar Martinez, who sponsored the resolution, described Pope Francis as “a man who throughout this year has been decisive in maintaining international peace through his clear position regarding the conflict in Syria.”

Since his election to the papacy, Pope Francis has made repeated calls for peace in Syria. He sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G20 Summit in which he called on the international community to work for an end to the violence in Syria and to reject any military intervention.

The Syrian conflict has now dragged on for more than 2.5 years, since demonstrations sprang up nationwide on March 15, 2011 protesting the rule of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president and leader of the country’s Ba’ath Party.

In April of that year, the Syrian army began to deploy to put down the uprisings, firing on protesters. Since then, the violence has morphed into a civil war which has claimed the lives of more than 115,000 people. There are at least 2.2 million Syrian refugees in nearby countries, most of them in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.

An additional 6.5 million Syrian people are believed to have been internally displaced by the war.

The Syrian rebels are made up of a large variety of groups, including both moderates and Islamist extremists, as well as Kurds.

Reports that chemical weapons had been used against civilians in Syria, killing more than 1,400 people, led to a discussion of possible international military action. Pope Francis called for a Day of Fasting and Prayer for Peace on Sept. 7.

After weeks of negotiation, an international agreement was reached to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons without a military strike.

November 29, 2013. (Romereports.com) Pope Francis announced that the year 2015 will be dedicated to consecrated life, as he met with the Union of Superiors General.

Instead of a planned speech and short meeting, Pope Francis chose to have a three-hour question and answer session with the 120 leaders of the Catholic men’s religious congregations.

During the session, the superiors general and the Pope spoke about how religious congregations enrich diocesan life. He encouraged members to go out to “frontiers,” working first and foremost with people excluded from society.

But he stressed the importance of dialogue with local communities to better adapt the Church’s teachings into their ways of life.

When it came to formation of religious members, the Pope said to avoid hypocrisy andclericalism, to develop “a tender heart.”

During the three-hour session, the Pope took a break with hot sip of mate.

-You share it.

-With another.

-Of course.

-I’d like one.

Upon his return, he continues answering their questions, and near the end he announced 2015 would be dedicated to them. He also thanked them for their faith and service.